So the last few posts since the elections I have been moaning about the world going to hell and how do I make sense of “The World”, the world that is clearly not turning out the way I thought it should. A combination of scripture and meditations and stepping back from my own opinions and desires lets me see things better, always keeping in mind that eternity matters, this world does not. Often my readings for daily meditations allude to the will of God being made manifest in the actions and orders of our “superiors”.

Alberta NDP Education Minister David Eggen (since deposed).

In religious life, within an order of religious in a monastery or in the priesthood it resembles the military in that it is not a democracy, vows of obedience include obeying orders and decisions which we may personally disagree with.

Outside of such societies we have come to feel that our own opinion is more important than anyone else’s but we still have our “superiors”, our bosses, executives of corporations, politicians, bureaucrats who wield much power, all in an ever increasing range or scope of authority the further up the food-chain a person gets.

Of course within the ever increasing “scope” of government authority we also suffer from inevitable “scope creep” as those who find themselves in positions of power struggle and push to increase their power in their various “silos” of responsibility … some would call this corruption but is an every day commonplace in our culture and much worse in other countries. The question I have is do those these persons make manifest the will of God in our lives?

“The Tribute Money” 1612-1614, painting by Peter Paul Rubens.

“19And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him the same hour: but they feared the people, for they knew that he spoke this parable to them. 20And being upon the watch, they sent spies, who should feign themselves just, that they might take hold of him in his words, that they might deliver him up to the authority and power of the governor.

21And they asked him, saying: Master, we know that thou speakest and teachest rightly: and thou dost not respect any person, but teachest the way of God in truth. 22Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or no?

23But he, considering their guile, said to them: Why tempt you me? 24Shew me a penny. Whose image and inscription hath it? They answering, said to him: Caesar’s. 25And he said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things, that are Caesar’s: and to God the things that are God’s.

26And they could not reprehend his word before the people: and wondering at his answer, they held their peace.” (Luke 20: 19-26)

So the Gospel outlines clearly the position of the Christian toward civil authority. “Render therefore to Caesar the things, that are Caesar’s: and to God the things that are God’s” (cf Luke 20, 25). There is no opposition between the rights of political power and the rights of God, since “there would be no power unless it were given from above” (cf John 19, 11): political authority, legitimately constituted, comes from God and must be respected as a reflection of the divine authority.

This is precisely the reason why every Christian is bound to fulfill all the duties of a good citizen, and, consequently, must obey political authority, unless its orders are opposed to the law of God. In that case it would no longer represent divine authority, because God cannot will anything bad or evil being the supreme Good. As St. Peter says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5, 29). In telling us to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, Jesus teaches us to give to the State all that falls under its jurisdiction, that is everything concerning the temporal order and the public good.

But He does not stop there, He says also “Give to God what is God’s”. If the coin which bears the image of Caesar should be restored to Caesar, then there is much greater reason to restore our soul to God since our soul bears the image of God. This is to say that we owe Him everything, because we received everything from Him. And this carries further, it is the duty and purpose of every human being to restore our souls to God since He is the creator of all of us and everything in the world. We restore our soul to God by putting our will in the service of His will.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with the media in the foyer of the House of Commons following the release of an ethics report (on his conduct). December 20, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld ORG XMIT: ajw105

But if we find ourselves in a political system (as so many of us do) whose orders are opposed to the law of God then that civil authority would no longer represent divine authority, because God cannot will anything bad or evil being the supreme Good. Such a political system would manifestly not be concerned with temporal order and the public good but rather the well-being of its “friends” at the expense of its citizens. What does one do in that case, well … obviously, as St. Peter says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5, 29).

What does that look like in real life in our modern polite Canadian society? We read in Luke 17: “1And He said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come. But woe to him through whom they come! 2It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones”.

And then we have The Book of Wisdom in the Catholic Bible, which has this to say about that:

1 Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the ends of the earth. 2 Give ear,you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations. 3 For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High; he will search out your works and inquire into your plans. 4 Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly, or keep the law, or walk according to the purpose of God, 5 he will come upon you terribly and swiftly, because severe judgment falls on those in high places.

6 For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested. 7 For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of anyone, or show deference to greatness; because he himself made both small and great, and he takes thought for all alike. 8 But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty.

Pope Francis and the Amazon Synod controversy …

9 To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed, so that you may learn wisdom and not transgress. 10 For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness, and those who have been taught them will find a defense. 11 Therefore set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed. (Wisdom 6. 1-11)

So, mercy for the lowly, “For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy” but dark days ahead for the mighty … and the realization that there is nothing that we, in our lowliness, can do about the great tides of misfortune in our time nor for the most part is there anything we can do about even the little misfortunes and sufferings of life.

It seems that as we age and become more aware of the inadequacy of our efforts to hold back the wheel of time, to prevail as the body and the mind and our energies decline, it seems that it becomes easier and easier to understand that we are miserable and powerless on our own. A moment’s inattention can lead to a world of hurt and as we age the odds are more and more stacked against us.

We are less and less able to make a material change in our lives for the better and certainly we come to appreciate how little we can affect the “polite society” all around us and the decisions and events which once we though we knew better about. Letting go of everything outside our “circle of control” is hugely liberating. Realizing just how small that circle of control really is is bracing and at the same time can be hugely depressing.

And in this new place of depression and perhaps despair, it becomes easier to understand the sufferings of life as the Will of God designed to purify us and strip us of everything we thought we loved about ourselves, thus making room for love of God to enter into our lives which, up to now, were so filled up with love of self. This progression is the “Dark night of the soul” written about by mystics like John of the Cross, but written for “Every-man”. The more successful we are the easier it is to think highly of ourselves, to “take credit” for everything in our lives which is actually just a gift. The lowlier we are the easier it is to appreciate what a screw-up we are, how miserable we are, and how much we are in need of God’s Love and God’s help.

So, in our total inadequacy, far from taking the initiative, as Father Gabriel says “… we are reduced to accepting with love, to enduring with patience and humility all that God disposes for us. God generally purifies souls through the ordinary circumstances of life. In the life of every Christian there is always a measure of suffering sufficient to effect the purification of the soul. These are the sufferings which God himself chooses and disposes in the way best suited to the different needs of souls; but, unfortunately, few profit by them because few know how to recognize in the sorrows of life the hand of God who wishes to purify them.

Illness, bereavement, estrangement, separation from dear ones, misunderstandings, struggles, difficulties proceeding sometimes from the very ones who should have been able to give help and support , failure of works that were cherished and sustained at the price of great labor, abandonment by friends, physical and spiritual solitude, — these are some of the sufferings which are met with more or less in the life of every man, and which we will find in ours” if we live long enough.

We have to accept and understand that all these things are willed or permitted by God, in his plan to purify us to the inmost fiber of our being. Additionally we must not stoop to blaming others, to blaming the malice of man, or examine the justice of events, but see only the hand of God working to chisel us into a closer resemblance to himself through these trials. We have to accept with patience and constancy, especially constancy, all these trials and tribulations which God sends us from within or without, spiritual or corporeal, great or small.

Sometimes we find it easier to accept heavy trials which obviously come directly from God, such as illness and bereavement, than the myriad daily lighter trials where other people enter into and for which we feel much greater revulsion. The immediate actions of our fellow humans, especially if their malice factors in, makes it more difficult for us to recognize the divine hand in our lives. And in our self love it is very easy to fall into sin by attributing all kinds of malicious motives to folks who have no clue that we even exist except in a general statistical way. How could they possibly do that … they must be screwing with us intentionally, right? Whole categories are malicious enemies, right? Republicans, right? Democrats, right? Liberals, right? Socialists, right? Gays, right? Bureaucrats, right? You get my drift?

Saint John of the Cross says: “Thou must know that those are no more than workers whom God has placed there only that they might work upon and chisel at thee by mortifying thee. and some will cut at thee through words … others in deed … others by their thoughts, neither esteeming nor feeling love for thee … and thou must be subject to them in all things, even as an image is subject to him that fashions it and to him that paints it, and to him that guilds it.”

Our challenge, the challenge to our faith, is to see in every person a messenger from our Lord Jesus, charged by our Lord to exercise our soul in virtue, particularly in what we lack most. Remember those 10 mile runs in boot? Designed to build strength, and perseverance, both traits that recruits are usually particularly lacking in. This is just another 10 mile run … all these trials and tribulations are just another series of exercises to build up our soul in what we are most lacking.

Instead of rebelling and becoming angry because of lack of consideration or even injustice we have to bow our heads humbly and accept it all as suitable treatment for our faults and bad inclinations. After decades of talk, this is where “the rubber meets the road”, it is with this realization that “death of self” truly begins. Peace and understanding is truly only found in humble acceptance, to understand in our heart that “this world” truly doesn’t matter. All that matters is God’s will.

I started this yesterday and posted the beginning at the end of yesterday’s post. Nothing here is “Real Joe”, just a brief quote from “Divine Intimacy” and a rather long, but extremely important and moving excerpt from Father John A. Kane’s “How To Make A Good Confession”.

Gentle Reader’s mileage may vary if you are not in this head-space … I wouldn’t have given this much thought a few years ago, but when one is ready, then it speaks.

“… This is a sign of real fidelity, to persevere even in the darkest moments, when all seems lost, and when a friend, instead of triumphing, is reduced to defeat and profound humiliation.

Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D

It is easy to be faithful to God when everything goes smoothly, when His cause triumphs; but to be equally faithful in the hour of darkness, when, for a time, He permits evil to get the upper hand, when everything that is good and holy seems to be swept away and irrevocably lost — this is hard, but it is the most authentic proof of real love. (Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. from the book “Divine Intimacy” meditations on the interior life for every day of the liturgical year.pp 400).

And from Fr. John A. Kane:

“Repentance (from the Greek: Metanoia) is the mind itself changed and transformed. It is the supernatural conquering the natural. It is the assumption of the spirit of Christ according to the words of St. Paul: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. (Phil. 2:5) Thus it is evident that penitence, in its entirety, is perennial.

It has not always the same quality, however. It assumes different phases, and in this respect it is like a lifelong grief. The first outbreak of sorrow will subside. The wilderness of desolation will bloom again with fragrant flowers. In resignation to the divine will, the soul will be flooded with light, peace, and joy. Then it will glory in the consciousness that it is suffering with Christ.

Fr. John A. Kane, 1912 – 1962

Its sorrow is now more abiding; it has taken root in the very depths of the soul’s consciousness; it clings to the soul far more tenaciously than the first convulsive paroxysm of grief. Without any external evidence, sorrow has silently transfigured the soul’s life, uniting it more fully, more consciously with its God. A calm and permanent sorrow, which at first terrorized the soul, now lovingly embraces it and gradually sinks into its extreme depths, while externally there may have been no sign of its existence.

Penitence acts likewise. The initial expression of grief will cease; the tears will by degrees diminish; the would inflicted by sin will gradually close. The first instinctive feelings of disappointment with self, loathing, and remorse will quiet down and become more reasonable. But the awful realization of the soul’s spiritual state, the one all-absorbing thought of the horror of sin, will be more vivid, immeasurably truer, and will assume a more disciplined form.

And as the interior spirit of repentance grows and at the same time becomes calmer, gentler, and more enlightened, the sense of the meaning of sin will intensify, and the thought of God’s mercy to sinners will rouse the soul’s hope and dispel the mists and shadows of that first anguish of somewhat unrealistic sorrow and remorse. The soul’s powers, thus renewed, will now live their life in the eternal sunshine of the mercy and love of God.

Peter Paul Rubens – Vision of Ezekiel

To the superficial observer, repentance may then appear to have ceased. It has, however, only sunk deeper into the soul. It is invisible because it has rooted itself in the soul’s innermost being. Its very hiddenness robs it of all external assertiveness. It has thoroughly intermingled with the soul’s deepest source of life, like food completely assimilated by the body.

It has made the soul far more responsive to grace; it has sensitized the soul’s faculties; it has silently and secretly developed the soul’s realization of God’s most wondrous prerogative: mercy; it has bound the soul irrevocably to Christ and revived the soul’s adoption by Him who “desires not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Cf. Ezek. 33:11) thus it has become the impetus of the soul’s advancement in virtue, the inspiration of its power for good, and its daily shield in its struggle for eternal life.

The Apostle Matthew and Angel (Rembrandt, 1661)

The soul now serves God more freely and more lovingly because it realizes the contrast between its past sinfulness and its present holiness, and the marvelous way in which the mercy of God has affected the change. This perennial penitential state, because of its hidden and profound depth, is all the more real. It is a creature of intelligence and calm confidence, not of blind instinct and selfish sorrow for sin. It transcends the natural because it is born of faith. A pious legend states that even to the day of his martyrdom, St. Peter, whenever he heard the crowing of the cock, wept anew.

The mighty flood of sorrow still flowed that broke forth within him when, on the night of his denial, he went out and wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75). In his epistles, penitence is not mentioned. But no other letters are more replete with soul stirring pleas for humility, watchfulness, and fear.

St. Peter

“Be ye subject therefore,” he says, “to every human creature for God’s sake.” (1 Pet. 2:13) In like manner, ye young men, be subject to the ancients. … Insinuate humility one to another, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble He giveth grace. Be you humbled, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation, casting all your care upon him, for He hath care of you. Be sober and watch, because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Pet. 5:5-8) “Be prudent therefore, and watch in prayers.” (1 Pet. 4:7) “Fear God.” (1 Pet 2:17) “Converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here.”

St. Paul’s letters, on the contrary, are striking for their tone of repentance. The great apostle cannot forget the sins of his youth. “I am,” he says, “the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.” (1 Cor. 15:9)

Saint Paul The Apostle, probably by Valentin de Boulogne

“A faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. But for this cause I have obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might show forth all patience, for the information of them that shall believe in Him unto life everlasting.” (1 Tim. 1:15-16)

Penitence deserving the name, then, is not a mere passing act but a permanent state — a supernatural sorrow not fitfully but continually welling up within us, a condition of soul lasting until death. At no stage of the spiritual life may we dispense with it. It is necessary for the one who has advanced in virtue, as well as for the hardened sinner.

King David Playing the Harp – Gerard van Honthorst

We are reminded of this in Confession. When slight imperfections form the subject matter of our accusation, the priest may well ask us to recall, in a general way, some former mortal sins, if any, or other venial sins, and to include them in our act of contrition. This is done to enliven our sense of sin and to increase our repentance.

Wonderfully retentive is the sinner’s memory. The reason is that the remembrance of past guilt and of God’s grace, which raised the sinner from spiritual death to spiritual life, can coexist in the soul.

God’s own eternity seems to be stamped upon the sinner’s conscience, that he may not be without fear for forgiven sin, that the abiding knowledge of former sin and the punishment thereof may, all his days, wring from him the wail that will finally remove the last vestige of both sin and punishment. “Wash me yet more from my iniquities and cleanse me from my sin.” (Ps. 50.4 Ps, 51:2)

As in the physical order, there is no light without its shadow, so , in the moral order, although the light of grace illumines the soul, the dim reflection of the hated past still remains.

The God who assumed our flesh so that sinners might “have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) the God of infinite compassion who came “to seek and to save that which was lost,” (Luke 19:10) would have us ever reflect on our past sinfulness — not to weaken our confidence in His unspeakable mercy and to fill us with despair, but to enliven our sorrow and to strengthen our love of Him, so that “where sin abounded, grace might more abound.” (Cf. Rom. 5:20)

The habitual thought of former sin will invigorate present repentance. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) True self knowledge will beget “the sorrow that is according to God,” which “worketh penance steadfast unto salvation.”

St. Luke The Evangelist – Claude Vignon

Thus, the prayer of the publican — “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13) we can never repeat too often; his humility we can never assimilate too well. The yearning to return to the God whom he had outraged, the conscious recognition of his sin, which convinced him that he was utterly unworthy of pardon, justified him fully in the in the sight of the divine majesty. “I say to you, this man went down into his house justified.” (Luke 18:14)

Realizing that we are sinners, we must have a godly, and thus a deep, humble, sincere, perennial, and efficacious sorrow for our sins, a sorrow that forces us to quit the broad, rough road of sin and, with renewed spiritual strength, to advance in the way of God.

If we evade the stern obligation of repentance, we shall be lost. “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3) Sorrow for past sin is the infallible means of avoiding future sin. Penitence is, then, the rock foundation of a virtuous life. We must clothe ourselves with the penitential garb here, if we would escape the terrors of the judgement hereafter. “If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who will stand it?” (Ps. 129:3 (RSV = Ps. 130:3)

“The only thing for which you will not be envied, is the lowest place; therefore, the lowest place place is the only one where there is no vanity and affliction of spirit.” (Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as Saint Therese of Lisieux, 1873 – 1897)

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as Saint Therese of Lisieux, 1873 – 1897

One of the great stumbling blocks to receiving God’s mercy is to live in the past. I am coming to believe that is what Jesus means when he states, in the Gospel of St. Luke, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

St. Therese of Lisieux in her “Little Way” understood this very well. She thought that we focus too much on our dark side, our ugliness, and not enough on God who is the Light of Light. She believed that we needed to have confidence in the consuming furnace of His Love for us.

Shortly before her death, St. Therese stated, “You may truly say that if I had committed all possible crimes, I would still have the same confidence; I would feel that this multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into a flaming furnace. All possible crimes, a multitude of offenses, a drop of water in an immense furnace; that is the proportion”.

The Pool Of Worship

As I remarkedin a previous post, I have finally realized that it is impossible for a proud man to give himself humility … it is impossible for an impoverished man to give himself wealth … it is impossible for a sick man to give himself health.

Therefore, to be truly humble, that is genuinely humble, I have to apply myself first of all to humility of heart and continue to deepen the sincere recognition of my nothingness, my weakness. An important part of that recognition is a sincere acceptance of responsibility for my thoughts, words, and deeds. Isn’t it funny how accepting responsibility shows up as the foundation of every attempt to know oneself.

I must acknowledge and accept my faults and my failings without trying to assign any other case or cause for them than my own miserable failings. There are no reasonable excuses for bad talk, or bad behaviour, or bad thinking. My bad is just that … my bad. I cannot slough off responsibility for myself and my conduct by blaming others, or the situation I find myself in, or the actions or faults of others now or in the past. I am responsible and I am to blame for what I do, or think, or say.

In a brief aside, a little wandering off the path, but on point regarding responsibility as a part of humility, is the occurrence of one of the greatest injustices, even tragedies, of the 20th century, namely the development of the cult of “repression” amongst Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and the cult continues to this day, alive and well, even amongst those who have become practitioners known as mental health counselors, sometimes known as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (at least in B.C.).

Katherine K. Young, 2015

The cult of “repressed emotions” arose in concert with the development of psychoanalysis, which grew out of thetheories Sigmund Freud. A more current phenomenon related to important aspects of Freud’s “repressed emotions” theory has been the “modern” Western teaching of contempt for men in our popular culture, known as Misandry.

It is also interesting, and amusing, that Paul Nathanson doesn’t get a mention in most search engines. It is affirming for one, like myself, who believes in a “left bias” in our culture to find again that anti male, anti conservative, bias in action in the “Wikipedia” search engine which I mentioned in another previous post. Katherine K. Young must have broken through the filters because she is a female PhD.

In Studies in Hysteria (1895)Freud proposed that physical symptoms are often the surface manifestations of deeply repressed conflicts. At the time Freud attracted many followers, who formed a famous group in 1902 called the “Psychological Wednesday Society.” The group met every Wednesday in Freud’s waiting room.

As the organization grew, Freud established an inner circle of devoted followers, the so-called “Committee” (including Sàndor Ferenczi, and Hanns Sachs (standing) Otto Rank, Karl Abraham, Max Eitingon, and Ernest Jones). At the beginning of 1908, the committee had 22 members and renamed themselves the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.

So thanks to Freud and his true believers in the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society every bad actor in the 20th century could get a “get out of jail free” card just by showing up and getting psychoanalyzed. Gee, I wish I had been psychoanalyzed … maybe then I would not have to suffer all this guilt for not being humble …

But, and it is a very BIG “but” (no dietary pun intended), Freud’s theory is good at explaining but not at predicting behavior (which is one of the goals ofscience). For this reason, Freud’s theory is unfalsifiable – it can neither be proved true or refuted. For example, the unconscious mind is difficult to test and measure objectively.

Overall, Freud’s theory is highly unscientific … most of the evidence for Freud’s theories are taken from an unrepresentative sample. He mostly studied himself, his patients and only one child (e.g., Little Hans).

The main problem here is that the case studies are based on studying one person in detail, and with reference to Freud, the individuals in question are most often middle-aged women from Vienna (i.e., his patients). This makes generalizations to the wider population (e.g., the whole world) difficult.

However, Freud thought this unimportant, believing in only a qualitative difference between people. Freud may also have shown research bias in his interpretations – he may have only paid attention to information which supported his theories, and ignored information and other explanations that did not fit them.

Annnnd back to humility … seriously folks, I have to recognize that the good that is in me is a pure gift from God and never claim it for my own. Jesus Christ taught “responsibility” not “It’s not your fault, sweetheart.”

I suppose that it is normal to desire to be humble, and I also suppose that it is normal not to desire humiliation. I pray for God to make me humble but I resist mightily any occurrences and events which I find humiliating. So, I figure that the self (my “self” anyway) started out life very proud, in fact the exact opposite of humble. I started out absolutely convinced of my own superiority. I loved myself with an absolute love.

Life seems to have been a more or less steady grinding away of that feeling of superiority. Now I ask myself, my “Self”, how is it possible to become humble without enduring humiliation? Today, this seems like a reasonable question, and looking back over the years I wonder why it never came up before?

And I think that the reasonable answer is that it’s impossible to achieve humility without experiencing and enduring humiliations. And it is probably reasonable to assume that the sturdier my self regard, the more extreme and enduring are the required humiliations to effect a change in my self regard.

Saint Teresa of Avila by Peter Paul Rubens

Humility is truth, and and the practice of humility is sincere recognition of truth. If I was sincere in recognizing this truth I would find it very just to be humiliated and scorned and treated without consideration.

So the pain I feel when treated unjustly and without consideration is a sure sign that I have not embraced true humility.

I have read that the saints were so firmly convinced of this truth that they never found the humiliations which came to them too painful. The saints always considered these humiliations less than they deserved.

“I never heard anything bad said of me which I did not clearly realize fell short of the truth. If I had not sometimes — often indeed — offended God in the ways they referred to, I had done so in many others, and I felt they had treated me far too indulgently about these”(Teresa of Jesus, also known as Teresa of Avila, 1515 – 1582)

More coming on humility, and also on judgement, of oneself, of others, and Final Judgement …

Oh Joy

Joe

If it looks proud, and walks proud, and talks proud, it must be proud, right?